They include a range of doctors from private practices and public hospitals in Houma and Thibodaux.

Editor-in-Chief Errol Laborde said the list, published in the magazine's November-December issue, is compiled by a private company called Best Doctors. The company ranks doctors by polling local physicians about who they'd recommend to their friends and family who need care, Laborde said.

The list includes 1,049 Louisiana doctors in 79 specialties.

“We take it very seriously when presenting this list of doctors,” Laborde said, adding a local physician checks over the list before it's published.

Dr. Shaminder Gupta is section chief for nephrology and associate program director for internal medicine education at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma. He said he is proud to earn a place on the list alongside four other doctors at his public charity hospital. He has worked at Chabert for eight years.

“It really speaks highly of our hospital,” Gupta said. “People choose to come to our hospital because they're getting good care. And to have a number of doctors on the list is a good indicator of that.”

Gupta, who lives in New Orleans, said he chooses to drive to Houma each day for work because he loves having a job where he can train new doctors and care for patients.

“You should love what you do, and at Chabert I have a chance to do that every day,” he said. “I love education and teaching, training the next generation of doctors. And in Terrebonne Parish, I get to see all kinds of patients from all different backgrounds. It's an opportunity to impact them directly.”

Greg Stock, CEO of Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, said having recognized doctors on staff is important to a hospital's mission of providing high-quality health care. Six staff doctors from the hospital were recognized.

Stock said he looks for doctors who are well-trained in their field and clinically competent with good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with patients and their caretakers.

Interpersonal skills are especially important in today's health care world, Stock said, because patients are looking for doctors who will spend time with them and answer their questions in a way they can understand.

Dr. Allen Vander, a kidney doctor who has worked nine years at Thibodaux Regional, is a local doctor recognized with the award.

Growing up in the small town of Sulphur outside of Lake Charles, Vander said he was inspired to be a physician by the family doctors who worked in his town.

“Today when you break your leg you go see an orthopedic specialist,” Vander said. “But back then you saw your family doctor. They had to do everything and be everything. Seeing how they handled caring for people inspired me to pursue a career where I could help people in that regard.”

Working in Thibodaux can still present a doctor with challenging cases, Vander added. In the past, he treated a patient with rare kidney stones that required treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

“It was an interesting case,” Vander said. “To have someone walk through my office with a disease so unusual that it happens to only one in 100,000 people — you wouldn't expect it in a small town.”

Vander added that it's nice to be recognized by his peers, but the best thanks comes in the form of thank-you notes from patients.

“We have a nice community here,” Vander said. “Getting a note that says ‘Thank you for taking care of my family' is better than anything else.”

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

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